True Blood 6×09 – Life Matters

In fact, it almost felt like a series finale (except for the cliffhanger). Life Matters did a tremendous a job of splitting True Blood‘s enormous cast between two incredibly contrasting storylines that hit a number of dramatic (and comedic) beats.

Part of me doesn’t understand why there’s been such a fuss over Terry’s death. In a cast that can only be described as mammoth, Terry was always one of the least interesting characters on the show. Nevertheless, the writers tackled his funeral this week with a sense of gravitas that proved surprisingly effective. While the flashbacks themselves were a tad slow (a jarring contrast to the manic pace of Vamp Camp), a lot of them proved to be wonderfully enlightening. I particularly loved watching Lafayette teaching Terry how to “dip” fries, and Sookie providing comfort for Arlene by telling her of Terry’s first thoughts when he saw her. Suffice to say: these moments made Terry feel like an integral part of the show’s run, and that’s quite the achievement. In addition, the funeral provided Sookie with the chance to finally come out as a telepath to the people of Bon Temps. I’m interested to see if this development will have actual ramifications in the future, or if it’ll just roll off the citizens like water after all the whacky stuff they’ve witnessed in town.

Of course the real meat of the hour was Eric completely obliterating Vamp Camp. The show hasn’t been this gruesome in a long time, and it was downright magnificent. First he tore up some arms and legs (predictably), but ripping off the evil doctor’s privates was an especially gory treat (not to mention Bill beautifully splattering the doctor’s face in with his heel). Of course this scene was later topped by an even more glorious sequence: Sarah making her way to the roof and unleashing the sun roof on our vamps. This gorgeously lead into the reveal of the prisoners feeding on Bill to withstand the sun. It was a phenomenal sight, made even better by Eric killing Steven Newlin (who hilariously professes his love to Jason instead of an onlooking Sarah) and Pam unleashing her fury on Doctor pervert.

On top of everything else, the Liliths returned and they were as useless as ever. For a second I thought Bill would be offed from the show (we can only hope) but he was surprisingly saved by James and hailed as some sort of messiah upon his exit. Are all our favorite vamps daywalkers now or is this just a temporary high? I’m intrigued to see where the writers take this, and what threat will arise next now that every Tru Blood bottle from Bon Temps to Honolulu has been dealt with.

And finally there’s the cliffhanger. Where did Eric fly off to that left Pam in such a mess? Thankfully this wasn’t the finale or I would have been pissed.

Bloody Bits

– Sookie blasting Bill off Warlow: awesome!

– Terry’s funeral brought together a ton of faces we hadn’t seen in a while: Tara’s mom, Miss Fortenberry, Alcide (since he was practically on a different show this year), and of course the ever hysterical Mrs. Bellefleur (each one of her lines was comedy gold).

– The horny looks that Fortenberry and Bellefleur gave Alcide were priceless. And look at that… a Hoyt reference!

– Did anyone else find it extremely satisfying to see the vamps torturing their human captors? I especially loved them making good use of the hamster wheel.

– Where to hide when your base is under attack? Under dead bodies of course! Thank you Miss Newlin.

– The pervert therapist proudly telling Eric that he “fucked his progeny” gave me chills. And Eric removing the fatso’s anti-glamour lenses with his super speed? Brilliant.

– Ginger’s back! She continues to make me laugh every time she’s onscreen.

– Sookie and Arlene’s friendship felt very genuine at the funeral. It was a great moment for our telepath when she stepped in after listening in on a nervous Arlene.

– Highly memorable visual: Pam waltzing with the therapist under the sun. I believe he was dead already?

– The Reverend’s song “Life Matters” was stunningly contrasted with Jason almost killing Sarah. The moment was thankfully bookended with a lighthearted touch as Arlene complemented the Reverend for being “the shit.”

– Warlow barely had any screen-time this week. I didn’t really notice.

Mrs. Bellefleur:
Is that the Stackhouse girl? The weirdo?
(About Lafayette) Is that a boy or a girl?
There are a lot more negros then I thought there would be. I’m just saying he’s not in the program.
(After the song) I really don’t see what was the point in all that.

One comment

The main complaint I've been hearing about this episode, was the funeral taking up half the screen time. I agree that it was inappropriately drawn out, and Terry was not that important. I've been hearing that the next season will be going back to the one story, one town show, so I guess this was a way of bringing most of the characters back together. I'm hoping Bill gets killed too, but I think these writers are too in love with him. I have predictions of where next season will go. I'm predicting Warlow will show his true colors as a villain, and the Hep V epidemic will spread, as I'm assuming the Tru Blood in Honolulu was contaminated. I think it will be a world wide crisis to humans and vampires, but I think the story itself will be contained just in Bon Temps. It seems the writers are wanting to back to keeping things simple, and I like that, I just hope Eric isn't gone for good.